BREAKING: DoJ has filed brief arguing the House Judiciary's impeachment inquiry ISN'T ONE.

[StarfishSaver]

20. Once again, the inquiry began in June.

Y'all do realize what happened today, right? And can we give Speaker Pelosi some props for it?

Nadler and the other Judiciary Committee Members made clear that they have opened an impeachment inquiry that could lead to Articles of Impeachment against Trump.

And this has been managed brilliantly.

As many have pointed out, if a vote were taken today on the House floor on whether to open an impeachment inquiry, it would fail and fail badly. Pelosi and Nadler have very skillfully and expertly worked around that possibility. And this didn't just start today.

A month and a half ago, Nadler announced a series of hearings he promised would pursue “targeted legislative, oversight and constitutional remedies designed to respond to these matters.” https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-03/nadler-plans-mueller-report-hearings-starting-with-john-dean

In his announcement, Nadler very specifically stated that the hearings wouldn't be limited to legislative and oversight purposes, but also are targeted toward "constitutional remedies." The only constitutional remedy available to the House to respond to the behavior described in the Mueller Report is impeachment.

This language was very intentional. Among other things, it positioned the Committee to request grand jury materials under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e)'s provision that allows a court to release grand jury materials in connection with a proceeding "preliminarily to" an impeachment inquiry.

Today, the Committee announced not only that it is indeed conducting an impeachment inquiry, Nadler and the others said that this inquiry didn't start today, but has been going on for some time - but this is the first time they have come out and said it.

So we are now exactly where many people have been demanding we be. The House is conducting a full-blown impeachment inquiry. They are about to get a court order compelling Don McGahn to testify or face jail and fines. They are in court seeking the grand jury materials.

And they pulled this off without a House vote that would have gone down in defeat. This was a brilliant move by Pelosi to move the inquiry forward while protecting the more vulnerable and conservative members of her caucus from having to vote for one.

Nicely done, Madame Speaker and Chairman Nadler.

Make no mistake about it. Impeachment is in play, y'all.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100212320474